In the screen printing art, it has been common practice in the past to have multi positioned screen printing machines with both the platens for supporting the workpiece and the print screen support arms radiating and supported from a central hub. The assignee of the present invention currently markets a line of such screen printing machines. Each of these machines is manually operated with the print screens and workpiece supporting platens being moved relative to one another and being manually brought into registration for printing.
One drawback to the rotary printer is that it is difficult to locate very many platens and screens, especially for printing larger items around the central hub. As the number of platens and screens increases or as the size thereof increases, the structural requirements imposed on the central hub and the radiating support arms become significant.
In order to speed up the screen printing process, automatic machines have been devised in which the printing screens are at permanent positions associated with ink supplies and squeegees and the platens move about a track and are brought to each printing station if multiple images are to be applied to each workpiece or if a composite image is to be made. The assignee of the present application also manufactures and sells such automatic screen printing machines. The previously described machines do an excellent job of screen printing within their capability, for example, the hub supported manual machine being well suited for small orders and the automatic machine being well suited for large orders. Both of the machines suffer to some extent in being limited by the size of the print screens and workpieces that can be handled. For example, the previously described machines are excellent to produce screen printed T-shirts and sweatshirts. On the other hand, both machines would have to be modified to handle a workpiece as large as, for example, a large beach towel or any workpiece upon which a large image was to be printed.